In the best interests of the British people.
The conflict in Iran, and the pressure at home.
The conflict in Iran and across the Middle East is now entering its third week.
I know that for so many of you, these events, and the impact they are having here are home, are making the world and our lives feel more uncertain than ever before. That is why I wanted to take a moment to set out for you the ways in which we are responding to this crisis, and standing up for the British people.
Our priority is always the national interest. And so, we have been clear and consistent on our objectives throughout this conflict.
First, we will protect our people in the region.
Second, we will not be drawn into the wider war, but we are taking the necessary action to defend ourselves and our allies.
Third, we will keep working towards a swift resolution – because the longer the this war goes on, the more dangerous the situation will become, and the worse it is for the cost of living at home.
Our response
We continue to work around the clock to help our people in the Middle East.
We estimate that by the end of yesterday, 100,000 British nationals will have returned to the UK on commercial and government charter flights. That work doesn’t stop. Foreign Office teams continue to work around the clock to support British citizens in the region – including British citizens in Lebanon.
Our Armed Forces are working 24/7 to protect British lives and British interests and support our Gulf partners. We have thousands of service men and women in Cyprus and across the region.
We have 3 squadrons of fighter jets working alongside counter-drone teams to intercept Iranian attacks. They are protecting our people, our bases and our allies – night and day.
And I pay tribute to all of them.
We are also continuing our diplomatic response.
The Foreign Secretary has been in the region in recent days, and I am in close contact with leaders from across the Gulf, and Europe and beyond.
I met Prime Minister Carney on Monday morning, and I met President Zelenskyy yesterday – because it’s vital that we don’t let new world events pull at our ever-important task of helping the Ukrainian people in their stand against Russia.
We cannot allow the war in the Gulf to turn into a windfall for Putin.
Now, it’s clear the US operation has massively weakened the military capability of the abhorrent regime in Iran, but the question is what comes next.
When the fighting stops, we are going to need some sort of negotiated agreement to constrain the threat posed by Iran, to limit their ability to rebuild their nuclear programme, to pose a ballistic missile threat, arm their proxy militias, and limit the threat they can pose to international shipping.
Their actions are hitting global supplies of oil, of gas and fertiliser, which in turn is pushing up prices here at home.
We have already acted alongside other countries to release emergency oil stocks at a level that is unprecedented, but ultimately, we have to reopen the Strait of Hormuz to ensure stability in the market.
That is not a simple task.
So, we are working with all of our allies, including our European partners, to bring together a viable, collective plan that can restore freedom of navigation in the region as quickly as possible.
And crucially, ease the economic impacts here at home.
Five steps to tackle the cost of living
Because of the decisions that my government have taken, the British economy is better placed that it otherwise would have been to weather this storm.
Since the election, we’ve built up our national resilience. We’ve delivered the biggest uplift in defence spending since the Cold War. We’re investing in clean British power to boost our energy security and protect working people from volatile fossil fuel markets. Also, because we have brought stability back to our public finances – stability that I will never put at risk – we are in a better position today than we were at the start of the Ukraine war four years ago.
Back then inflation was 5% and rising.
We have brought it down to 3% today.
And this isn’t just about dry economics, but about values.
We’ve built this resilience this for a reason.
To give us the space to act to support working people, and shelter our country from the shocks, the volatility that is buffeting our world.
And we are acting.
I want to set out five steps that we’re taking to tackle the cost of living.
First, we have capped energy bills until the end June – saving the average household £117. That’s in addition to the Warm Homes Discount of £150 for the most vulnerable in society.
No matter what happens now in energy markets, on April 1st, your energy bills will be cut and then capped for the next three months.
And this week I announced that we are giving a legal direction to the energy companies to ensure every penny of the savings we delivered through last year’s Budget is passed directly onto customers, to keep bills as low as possible.
Second, we have extended the cut in fuel duty until September, and we’ve introduced the cheap fuel finder, where petrol stations need to publish their prices to make it easier for drivers to choose the lowest price.
Back in 2022, when prices spiked because of the conflict in Ukraine, I campaigned for a windfall tax on oil and gas companies.
We have raised it in government, to ensure that companies can’t profit from price spikes like these, and that money will go back into people’s pockets.
I simply will not allow companies to make huge profits on the backs of of working people.
We were elected to stop that. And we will.
Third, we’re going to support rural communities with the cost of heating oil. The CMA reported last week what every heating oil customer already knows – accounts of suppliers cancelling orders and jacking up prices.
That kind of conduct is simply unacceptable.
So if the companies have broken the law, there will be legal action.
And because it’s clear this market is under regulated, we are going to put that right, to ensure consumers get a better deal.
But we won’t just wait for that.
On Monday morning I announced immediate support for vulnerable heating oil customers, providing £53 million for those households that are most exposed.
Fourth, we are pushing ahead with our long-term plan to build Britain’s energy security and independence, because otherwise we will continue be subject to wild fluctuations in oil and gas prices.
We’ve already brought in £90 billion of investment in clean British energy, and that’s enough to power the equivalent of over 20 million homes.
Just last week, we committed to reforming regulations so we can fast-track new nuclear power stations.
This has been opposed every step of the way by those who want to resist the push for clean energy.
They did the same throughout the entire period of the last Government – and they won.
But we see here, as we did with Ukraine, that this is a vital cause.
Because until we get ourselves off the rollercoaster of international oil and gas markets, and onto clean, homegrown British energy, tyrants like Putin and the Ayatollahs will be free to attack our energy security.
So we won’t slow down on this, but will instead go faster.
Fifth, we will continue to work towards a swift resolution of the situation in the Middle East, because there is no question that ending the war is the quickest way to reduce the cost of living.
It’s moments like this that tell you what a government is about.
Whatever the challenges that lie ahead, this government will always support working people. That is my first instinct.
My first priority: to help you with the cost of living throughout this crisis.
Leading, not following
Moments like this also tell you about leadership.
Whether to commit British troops to military action is the most serious responsibility for any Prime Minister.
I have been attacked by some opposition parties for my decision not to join the offensive against Iran.
But at every stage, I have stood by my principles – principles which I held just as strongly when it came to the debate on the Iraq war in 2003.
Principles which I believe are shared by the British people, that our decisions should be based on a calm, level-headed assessment of the British national interest. If we are to send our servicemen and women into harm’s way, the very least they deserve is to know that they do so on a legal basis and with a proper, thought through plan.
Now, there are others who would have made a different decision two weeks ago.
They would have rushed the UK headlong into this war without the full picture of what they were sending our forces into and without a plan to get us out.
That is not leading, it’s following.
My leadership is about standing firm for the British interest, no matter the pressure.
And I believe time will show that we have the right approach.
Right on the economy and the cost of living.
Right on defence and energy.
And right on this war.
In the best interests of the British people.
Keir.